{"id":134700,"date":"2017-09-15T12:30:27","date_gmt":"2017-09-15T18:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=134700"},"modified":"2017-09-15T14:33:27","modified_gmt":"2017-09-15T20:33:27","slug":"end-mission-cassini","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/09\/15\/end-mission-cassini.html","title":{"rendered":"“End of Mission” for Cassini"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s been a multi-decade road, but one of the pioneers of space exploration has gone out in a blaze of glory.<\/p>\n

Originally shared by +Colin Sullender<\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Cassini: End of Mission<\/b><\/p>\n

At 4:55 am PDT, NASA’s Deep Space Network lost contact with the Cassini<\/i> spacecraft as it plunged into the atmosphere of Saturn.<\/p>\n

This marks the end of a nearly 20-year-long, 4.9 billion mile mission that began aboard a Titan IV rocket in Cape Canaveral on October 15, 1997. After almost seven years of travel, including flybys of Venus, Earth, and Jupiter, Cassini<\/i> entered orbit around the sixth planet of our Solar System on July 1, 2004, where it remained for over a decade. Earlier this year, Cassini<\/i> began a series of harrowing dives between Saturn and its majestic rings, culminating today with its destruction in the upper atmosphere of the gas giant. With fuel running low, this method of disposal was selected to minimize the risk of biological contamination of Saturn’s moons.<\/p>\n

Cassini<\/i> is responsible for an immense body of knowledge about our Solar System. From tests validating Einstein’s theory of general relativity to discovering six new moons orbiting Saturn to landing the Huygens<\/i> probe on the surface of Titan, the spacecraft has been a workhorse of NASA, ESA, and ASI for many years.<\/p>\n

And now she has become one with the planet she so magnificently portrayed.<\/p>\n

Sic Itur Ad Astra<\/i><\/p>\n

Source: https:\/\/youtu.be\/xrGAQCq9BMU<\/a> (NASA JPL, Erik Wernquist)<\/p>\n

#ScienceGIF<\/a> #Science<\/a> #GIF<\/a> #Cassini<\/a> #Huygens<\/a> #NASA<\/a> #JPL<\/a> #ESA<\/a> #ASI<\/a> #Saturn<\/a> #Mission<\/a> #Space<\/a> #Discovery<\/a> #Orbit<\/a> #Rings<\/a> #Astronomy<\/a> #Astrophysics<\/a> #Destruction<\/a> #Burn<\/a> #Finale<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

View on Google+<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s been a multi-decade road, but one of the pioneers of space exploration has gone out in a blaze of glory. Originally shared by +Colin Sullender: Cassini: End of Mission At 4:55 am PDT, NASA’s Deep Space Network lost contact with the Cassini spacecraft as it plunged into the atmosphere of Saturn. This marks the … Continue reading ““End of Mission” for Cassini”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":134701,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106,82],"tags":[466,470,463],"class_list":["post-134700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-plusposts","category-space","tag-cassini","tag-nasa","tag-saturn"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Cassini.gifimgmax=660.gif","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":39647,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/11\/12\/its-a-gorgeous-universe-sometimes.html","url_meta":{"origin":134700,"position":0},"title":"It's a gorgeous universe, sometimes","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 12-Nov-13 9:06pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Lovely.Reshared post from +NASANew view of Saturn - Here\u2019s a natural-color image of Saturn from space, the first in which Saturn, its moons and rings, and Earth, Venus and Mars, all are visible. The new panoramic mosaic of the majestic Saturn system taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, which shows the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25113,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/01\/05\/it-can-be-a-pretty-universe.html","url_meta":{"origin":134700,"position":1},"title":"It can be a pretty universe","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 5-Jan-12 6:54am","format":false,"excerpt":"Like in this picture of Saturn, et al. #ddtbReshared post from +michael interbartoloBefore Wide ShadowsSaturn's moon Tethys orbits in front of the wide shadows cast by the rings onto the planet for this Cassini spacecraft view.Tethys (660 miles, or 1,062 kilometers across) appears just below the rings near the center\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5516,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2004\/02\/27\/lord_of_the_rin.html","url_meta":{"origin":134700,"position":2},"title":"Lord of the Rings","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 27-Feb-04 5:14pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Ever-growing pictures of Saturn are coming back from the Cassini-Huygens probe, which drops into Saturn orbit in 123 days. Sweet. (via Rich)...","rel":"","context":"In "Science & Nature"","block_context":{"text":"Science & Nature","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/science"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":30338,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/25\/saturn.html","url_meta":{"origin":134700,"position":3},"title":"Saturn","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 25-Sep-12 8:33am","format":false,"excerpt":"Gorgeous.Reshared post from +Philip PlaitThe jaw-dropping beauty of SaturnThe Universe is awesome, especially our little corner of it: here's a Cassini pic of Saturn to prove it. I have details about what you're seeing on my blog:http:\/\/blogs.discovermagazine.com\/badastronomy\/2012\/09\/25\/angling-in-on-saturn\/ Google+: View post on Google+","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28119,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/06\/03\/lordy-but-its-a-beautiful-universe-sometimes.html","url_meta":{"origin":134700,"position":4},"title":"Lordy, but it's a beautiful universe sometimes","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 3-Jun-12 11:49pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Wow.Reshared post from +Philip PlaitStunning time lapse of Saturn from CassiniDid I say \"stunning\"? Yes. Watch.My comments are at http:\/\/blogs.discovermagazine.com\/badastronomy\/2012\/04\/30\/mesmerizing-time-lapse-of-saturn-and-jupiter-from-spacecraft\/ Google+: View post on Google+","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":39842,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/12\/01\/continuing-cassini.html","url_meta":{"origin":134700,"position":5},"title":"Continuing Cassini","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 1-Dec-13 12:27am","format":false,"excerpt":"It seems to me a sign of weakness, if not stupidity and societal decay, to abandon something that is still doing cool, useful stuff.(As a curious side note, I'm watching the video and thinking, \"Hey, that's the Denver skyline, because, hey, the big QWEST building sign. Which makes sense, since\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134700"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134700\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":134712,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134700\/revisions\/134712"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/134701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}